In 2018, Harvard Business Review conducted a survey of over 1000 leaders in more than 800 countries and found that “leaders at the highest levels tend to have better self-awareness than leaders lower in the hierarchy.” The survey concluded that “this could be because stronger self-awareness accelerates the promotion process or because….we’re nudged toward enhancing our self-awareness as our leadership responsibilities increase.”
No matter which way it comes to be, the net out is the same. Self-awareness matters in leadership positions. Some may even say mastery of self-awareness can help leaders more than an MBA can. So before we get into how to improve self-awareness, let’s first define it: self-awareness is our ability to pay attention to how we think, feel, behave, and live in alignment with our values.
When we see ourselves more clearly, it results in better relationships, healthier boundaries, calmer moods, increased productivity, more effective communication, and clearer paths toward decision-making. Sign. Me. Up. The good news is that self-awareness is a skill. As such, it can be practiced and improved upon with the right tools and techniques. Some long-standing touted methods include:
• Mindful meditation: letting your thoughts flow freely and gently bringing them back to a place of stillness.
• Observing/identifying emotions or thoughts: practicing metacognition and disconnecting from the idea or emotion by putting oneself in the observer role. For example: rather than thinking, “I am angry,” instead reframe to “I am noticing anger right now.”
• Take distraction-free breaks: A distraction-free break means no social media. No phone. No household chores. No to-do lists. Instead, it’s a quick reset of the mind and body. Take a walk outside without headphones or sit in a chair looking out the window and observe life moving by.
Another way to approach developing the skill of self-awareness is through Archetypal immersion. Archetypes are the underlying patterns of human nature and experience. In the work that we do with Archetypes at Work, we explore these patterns and how they are deeply rooted in mindset, behavior, and values. We have identified ten Archetypes, or leading characters, on the stage of life. We each have access to all ten characters in varying degrees. By changing the on-stage characters in your play of life, we can shift the dialogue occurring within ourselves during any given experience and the nature of the associated mindset, behaviors, and underlying value system.
Let’s say; for example, you have a lot of Strategist Archetypal wisdom. You *love* checking things off a list. You are planful in your approach to…well, just about everything. There are systems in place and processes to follow. Whether it’s planning a presentation for your leadership team or orchestrating a birthday party for a loved one. You ‘lead’ with your Strategist self. But what if….as the Marshall Goldsmith adage goes, “what got you here won’t get you there”? What if your leadership sees you more as an executor rather than as someone who can motivate and sell a vision? Perhaps they are passing you over for recognition or promotion. In bringing a sense of self-awareness to this experience, you may realize, for example, that you also hold quite a lot of Sovereign energy, but have been letting it sit primarily off-stage since there was so much work that the Strategist could take care of. In bringing that Sovereign energy to the forefront, you may be able to unlock newer layers of potential in your leadership journey.
No matter how we get there, cultivating self-awareness in the leaders of tomorrow will be critical. Leaders who focus on building the self-awareness muscle will be those who are sought after to lead the next generation.
Lisa Kjellstrom
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